With home prices continuing to drop and mortgage rates at 60-year lows, Peter from California is feeling the urge to buy something, but is it the right move for him? On the other end of the spectrum, Michael from Texas is wrestling with a short-sale and wondering whether he should try to enter an unconventional deal with his realtor.

Mark from MI called on behalf of his mother, who wants to take advantage of the rising gold market.

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Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. His call came in at the perfect time–right before Leigh Keno joined us to talk about finding hidden treasures in our homes and collecting art and antiques.. Should she pay down her mortgage, invest or keep it stashed in cash?

Vicki from MD has converted her IRA into Roth and now needs to reallocate $175,000. Here’s the critical question when it comes to SS: when are you going to die? I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true! If you live beyond 78, it makes sense to hold off on SS between ages 62-66. We started with Heidi in CT, who has about $150,000 available right now. All Rights Reserved. If you live beyond 82.5, it makes sense to delay SS until the maximum age of 70. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

Last Updated Sep 17, 2011 11:46 AM EDT

A winning week for stocks was not enough to convince “Jill on Money” listeners that they can go on auto-pilot with their finances.

Here are web sites and resources mentioned in this week’s show:

Thanks to the wonderful 404 fans, who are now participating in my show! (Here’s one of my recent appearances on the 404.) Two of them reached out this week. Here’s a pretty simple, no-load mutual fund, balanced portfolio for Vicki to consider (for general purposes only!):

Jim from TX called, and Dwayne and Maureen wrote to ask about Social Security. If you’re married, there are two different strategies to consider: (1) Double Dipping and (2) File and Suspend.

CommentsBy: AP | Istanbul |Updated: July 20, 2015 6:51 pm Turkish town of Suruc near Syrian border. Kobani was the Islamic State group’s biggest defeat last year since the militants established control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and has become a symbol of Kurdish resistance.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Suruc hosts the largest refugee camp in Turkey, which has seen nearly two million Syrians cross its border to flee the fighting in their homeland.. More than 220,000 people have been killed and at least a million wounded since Syria’s crisis began in March 2011, according to the U.N.

The private Turkish news agency DHA said the blast in Suruc occurred at a cultural center while a political group was holding a news conference on Kobani’s reconstruction. News reports said 300 people from the Federation of Socialist Youths were staying at the center and were preparing to travel to Kobani to help with the rebuilding.

Kobani was also the scene of surprise IS attacks last month that killed more than 200 people.

Do you like this storyTags:bomb blastTurkey

The prime minister’s office gave the casualty toll in a phone call to The Associated Press.

A second bomb went off Monday south of Kobani near a Kurdish militia checkpoint on the road to Syria’s largest city of Aleppo, according to Idriss Naasan, a Kurdish official in Kobani. (Source: Google Maps)

A midday explosion in Turkey’s southeastern city of Suruc near the Syrian border killed 28 people Monday and sent nearly 100 others to the hospital, Turkish officials said.

A Turkish official, however, said authorities have evidence that the attack was a suicide bombing and suspect the Islamic State group was behind it. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Share This ArticleRelated ArticleCivilian death toll crosses 200 as Kurdish forces drive IS out of KobaniIS storms Hassakeh in Northeast SyriaThousands flee as Syrian Kurds march to IS controlled border townOfficial: 2 injured in blast in Turkish town near SyriaSyria refugee flood to Turkey hits 100,000Car bomb kills 3,wounds 34 in Ankara

Suruc is just across the border from the Syrian city of Kobani, the scene of fierce battles between Kurdish groups and the Islamic State group

Read my complete review of Michael Jackson’s This Is It by clicking right here.

We watched Michael Jackson’s This Is It on blu-ray and we loved it!

MJ, as they call him, really was a musical genius. It is incredibly hard to believe that after all that practice and hard work, this concert was never performed live..

I believe that every Michael Jackson fan and anyone with even a casual interest should watch This Is It, which tells the story of the development of Michael’s last concert, which, of course, was never held

Day trip takes longer due to traffic along the municipalities and cities that you will pass by.

As a first time visitor to the province, I suggest you take the day trip as you will see a lot of beautiful sceneries along the way. They are, likewise, articulate and comfortable speaking English to cater foreign visitors.. Sometime it takes you longer since you have all the time to stop and go. Check this map to explore.

Via Car: If you want to experience a long drive and take an extra challenge to yourself, try driving your car way up to Laoag City. Several bus companies such as Florida, Partas, Fariñas and Maria De Leon have regular trips directly bound to Laoag City. Choose also to ride the Deluxe Buses as it has CR inside and the seats can be inclined and has a foot rest too which lets you relax all the way on your long trip.

Introduction

Do you have plans for your next vacation? Well, why not try to visit this northern coastal province of the Philippines which has a lot of exciting destination to explore, rich in natural beauty, cultural and historical heritage to share.

Yes, I am talking of the province of Ilocos Norte which is situated 400 km north of Manila, capital of the country. So if you want to take a pee in a gas station, if you want to take a photo in the sea shore, if you want to buy pasalubong, then its good to bring your car. The province offers a number of popular destinations for tourists, locals and foreigners alike such as Sinking Bell Tower, Bangui Windmill, Pagudpud Beaches, Paoay Church, Lapaz Sand dunes and many more…

You need to stay at least four to five days in the province to visit and explore all the tourist spots Ilocos Norte offers to everyone.

How to reach Ilocos Norte?

You can reach Ilocos Norte a lot of ways – it can be by plane, by bus or by car. If you are not familiar yet with the route, you can check it here.

Via Bus: Public buses are available day and night. Travel time is 45mins approximately.

Where to stay in Ilocos Norte?

There are a lot of hotels and inns where you can select while staying in the province. So its up to you which you prefer to ride that makes you comfortable and enjoyable as you travel.

Here are the following tourist spots in Ilocos Norte which you need to visit while you are in the province. Private car travel times takes about 8 to 10 hours depending on you and your colleagues. Normally, travel time takes around 10 – 12 hours by day and 8 to 10 hours at night. I suggest check their websites time to time to watch out for discount and promo fares offered by these airlines. Dont worry about hospitability as Ilocanos are well known to be hospitable, friendly ad accommodating

For example, in FFXI it’s not common at all for items of +1 to become valued at between ten and thirty times their more normal variant value. Players who are actually in a position to create the high quality items will be rewarded with tons of earned Credits.

Great strategy entails selling materials early for tons of Credits, and then re-buying them back later when demand dies down. Getting more Credits in SWTOR means being able to obtain even more gear, items, and skills. The best professions are weapons or armor makers. In all of the Star Wars games, Credits are the equivalent of money.

Crafting in the SWTOR is one of the skills players should pay great attention to. Smart. Crafters have access to the best stuff in the game. Folks that power-level themselves instead of stopping to craft only hurt themselves in the long run. Next, because of this, people will be reselling their stuff at ridiculously high prices. Credits play a major a role in SWTOR as gold does in WoW, ISK or Eve Online. Be smart. Items like these can become massively valuable. When you earn Credits early it gives you the advantage of leveraging out later to power-level your craft. Get to the markets early. In conclusion, players will have lots of Credits left over. Once lots of players are at a maxed out level then crafting supplies will be flooding into marketplaces since most players are going to be too lazy to craft anything. The stuff, or items will be called “crits” which means random rolls to get a +1. Learn to hoard your Star Wars: The Old Republic Credits at http://www.starwarstheoldrepubliccredits.com. Craft early.

If players want to buy Credits, why not check out http://www.starwarstheoldrepubliccredits.com

The best way to work this game is to find the balance between crafting and gathering. This sort of system is commonly found in many of the MMORPGs, but not in WoW. Sell the gathered stuff at the highest price you can to guys wanting to power-level their craft. Then be sure to splice for the great recipes yourself. Crafters learn early they earn little money and often lose on “normal quality” crafts but then can earn really big with “crits”.

For folks looking to earn easy Credits this scenario means three things: . It means you can craft what some call an “epic item” which is on par with dungeon loot. Send your teams out to gather (sell items) and to splice (meaning get recipes). For example, a crafted item can boost your character’s HP by +10. This makes leveling out later really easy.

Here we can learn all that is possible about how to get more Star Wars: The Old Republic Credits in this new game. Stock up Credits. When supply goes up it means you sold early when it was high then later came in and bought low. These guys will be raking in Credits.

Crafts will be really pricey to power-level because everyone will be trying to climb over each other to earn the best loot to max them out. Every once in a while you will be allowed to “crit” on your craft then you can craft or create an item which may contain a bit of extras or bonuses

Former congressman Ayi Hernandez said he and his family were at home in Cagayan de Oro late on Friday when they heard a loud “swooshing sound”.

Although the Philippines is hit by typhoons or tropical storms every year, Mindanao in the south is usually spared the worst of the damage, she adds.

The navy joined the search for those who had been swept out to sea. About 60 people were reported to have been plucked from the ocean off El Salvador city, about six miles (10km) north-west of Cagayan de Oro.

The rescue effort, boosted by some 20,000 soldiers, continued through Saturday night but was being hampered by flooded-out roads and downed power lines, officials said.. The remains of houses lay alongside cars that had been picked up by the water and left in culverts and along riverbanks.

“The US government stands ready to assist Philippine authorities as they respond to this tragedy,” she said.

“This thing happened so fast, it was very overwhelming.”

Weather experts said Tropical Storm Washi dumped more than a month of average rain in just 12 hours over Mindanao.

The BBC’s Kate McGeown in Manila said the storm took everyone by surprise.

He said the water rose to about 11ft feet (3.3m) in less than an hour, filling his home to the ceiling.

The flash floods were triggered by a tropical storm that coincided with high tides, trapping many in their homes.

Many of the bodies were unclaimed after nearly 24 hours, raising the prospect that entire families had died, Philippines Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said. “The affected area is so wide and huge and I believe they have not really gone to all areas to do a search,” she said.

The storm has maximum winds of 80km/h (50mph) and is expected to move west, away from the Philippines.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent condolences to the Philippines.

Officials said many bodies remained unclaimed, suggesting entire families had been swept away.

Naval vessels are scouring the coast along the island of Mindanao while soldiers searched swollen rivers.

Rescuers are still searching for survivors after floods in the southern Philippines killed more than 650 people and left 800 others missing.

Almost 35,000 people were still sheltering in evacuation centres on Sunday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

The Philippine National Red Cross puts the current death toll at 652 with 808 people reported missing.

Washi reached the western island of Palawan before dawn on Sunday and is moving west into the South China Sea, government forecasters said.

The major ports of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were among the areas worst hit on Friday night.

National TV showed scenes of devastation, with streets strewn with mud and piles of debris

I’m not sure how the government of Singapore feels about online gambling but I know they are moving forward with the development of land based casinos. Obviously they are interested in the money involved in gambling. One of the biggest online sportsbooks in the world is Bodog and they do cater to your market. I would suggest that if you are interested on soccer betting to visit the site and give it a try. That being said it is obvious that there are several thousands of Asian gamblers online. They are rock solid financially so you would never have to worry about your investment. .

This is what makes English a frustrating language to understand.Forming the Plural of Nouns Ending in the Letter Y

Nouns that end in the letter y are usually formed by dropping the letter y and adding the letters ies. Therefore, adding the letter e before the plural s creates a new sound, easier to say and understand. Note that if a word ends in a single letter z, add another z before the letters es to make it plural.

Nouns that end in the letter o are some of the trickiest of all to make plural. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to remember which o-ending words require -s and which ones require -es. However, the English language is full of exceptions to every rule, especially this one. With a bit of practice, forming the plural of nouns will become more natural, though most English writers still have to look up the occasional regular plural version of a noun.. How do you make any word into the plural form? The most common way is just to add the letter -s to the end of the word. This is primarily because the sound would not flow easily by having two hissing sounds next to each other. Here are a few helpful hints, though:

Generally, for nouns older to the English language, add -es (potatoes, heroes).Generally, for nouns that end in a vowel + o, just add -s (radios, kangaroos).Generally, for nouns that are shorter forms of longer words, just add -s (photos, typos).Generally, for proper nouns, just add -s (Eskimos, Latinos).Generally, for nouns acquired from another language, just add -s (tacos, stilettos).Generally, for nouns newer to the English language, just add -s (casinos, torsos).Still, other nouns that end in the letter -o can be made plural by adding either -es or -s. When the noun ends in a vowel + y, however, simply add the letter s to form the plural.

One can build fortunes by investing in the stock markets, trading in bonds, commodities or even currency! Stock market holds attraction for the common man because of its fairly easy access, not so complex valuations and low entry and exit barriers to trade. This is a fairly straight forward and simple exercise for the investor. This is usually done by studying charts recording historic data of price movements. Creating wealth demands a serious effort and gives your well-deserved earnings a greater longevity. As one of the things to consider before investing in a company, the investor should spot and exploit the recurring and predictable patterns in the stock movements of a company to obtain superior returns. A generalization should not be made by any investor regarding some key benchmarks or ratios saying that high ratio is good and low ratio is bad. These are very simple to follow and can be done sitting right at home, accessing the required information over the Internet!

There cannot be any quick fire, bite size solution to select companies to invest in. An aware investor can make use of the lack of efficiencies in the information dissemination and get better returns. With the world becoming flatter and technology growing at an exponential rate every day, the common man can aspire to, and build himself wealth that can last his future generations. This will enable him to make quick profits. No analysis mentioned here should be done on a standalone basis by the investor as all of them are intricately linked and share a cause-effect relationship. The asset utilization parameters are said to be managed well and can be looked into for investments.

Fundamental Analysis

The next analysis is a “Fundamental Analysis” of the companies. All the parameters described in the techniques given above are, in short, what an investor needs to look into with great detail.

The primary trend: long term movement of prices lasting from several months to several years.

The secondary or intermediate trends: caused due to short term deviations of prices from the underlying trend line or intrinsic value.

The tertiary or minor trends: these are the daily fluctuations caused in the prices.

An investor with a long term view can analyze the primary trends and identify the supports (lowest prices) and ceilings (highest prices) historically recorded and plan the investments accordingly. These ratios need not be published in the financial statement of the company and investor needs to derive them. Financial Statement Analysis

Apart from valuation models and techniques, the investor can also look into undertaking a basic financial statement analysis. The following article attempts to concisely explain what to look for in a company while investing.

There are two basic forms of analysis that can be done by an average investor. The financial data of all public companies which are listed in the U.S. The tertiary or minor trends require highest level of involvement and a very “hands on” approach. On obtaining the financial statement of the company, the investor should make a list financial ratios. One can also follow the secondary trends, but it is required that the investor is more in touch with the market happenings. They are difficult to predict and should be followed only by trained and experienced investors who can catch the pulse of the market. can be easily found online. If the investor plans to be more involved in following the market trends and be proactive in investments then he should go for companies with high intraday trading patterns and high volatility. Investors should also look into the past operations of the company, the management, locations through which the company operates, etc. The basic problem with technical analysis is that the investors can see the trend only after the event has occurred in the past and is an established fact. So good returns can be obtained in a fairly short period of time, provided the investor’s entry and exit timings are right. Companies which have outperformed the industry average values on profitability parameters. As the companies are in a constant state of evolution, their equilibrium shifts to a different high or low. The theory does not argue with the principle that the company’s stock price is a reflection of its intrinsic value, but believes that the prices gradually close in on the intrinsic value. The secondary are not as long-lived as the primary trends. These values are published online by the government sources and/or by U.S. A little study will help you know the best ways to invest money in a profitable manner with assured returns.

Being wealthy and being rich are two different things. If the investor is risk-averse then companies are being fairly less impacted by the policy changes. The purpose of the Fundamental Analysis is to identify companies and stocks that are wrongly priced relative to their ‘true value’. Department of Commerce. as even these parameters play a major role in deciding the returns made on investment.

Background Check

There are various time series charts available online. The true value of the stocks can be easily obtained from published and available financial data of the companies. Recognizing trends as they emerge can be a bit difficult.

External Factors

It is very important to study the macroeconomic and industry analysis with respect to these companies to see how external factors have affected them. An investor needs to be patient and needs to be able to afford a lock down period while using these trends to plan the investment strategy. Companies with dubious records and imperfect information should be avoided at any costs though.

The Technical Analysis

The first analysis is termed “The Technical Analysis”. The detailed techniques are beyond the scope of this article and can be found on tutorials online. These analysis techniques and some experience will greatly help an investor hone the skills required for spotting the trends and understanding how the future trends will be affected. The investor should study three types of trends:
. Selection of companies to invest in should be done in relation with the economy and current happenings also. There are various valuation techniques that can be used like the Dividend Discount Models, Price Earnings Ratio Technique and the likes to find out the true value. An investor having a long term view of his investments should go for companies that are undervalued on the stock exchanges